If you’re a “morning person,” you know that the early hours of the day, between when you wake up and when you begin work, can be some of the most valuable, productive, and fun. And, even if you don’t identify that way, you may be surprised how a few slight changes in your behavior can have a tremendous effect on your attitude.

When you establish the right morning routine, you can greet the day with fresh vigor, get more accomplished in work and life, and go to sleep looking forward to the next day. Want to stop hitting “snooze” and learn to love your mornings? Here are some ideas for morning rituals that will spread some sunshine on your days.

Get Plenty of Sleep

Sometimes more pleasant mornings are simply a matter of getting adequate rest at night. Before making any changes to your morning routine, make sure you’re in good physical health, not abusing drugs or alcohol, and getting the best sleep you can.

Rise Early

When you’re not in a hurry, everything seems less daunting. Give yourself more than enough time to transition from sleep to preparation for the day ahead.

“Running and walking are both great because they’re accessible to most everyone, they can be your gateway remedy to a healthier lifestyle, and they can even give you the momentum to design a whole new morning routine,” writes Benjamin Spall, author ofMy Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired. If a pre-dawn run sounds overwhelming, you can try yoga, stretching, swimming, or any other physical activity that wakes you up, circulates your blood and oxygen, and helps you get into the rhythm and flow of life.

“Each morning you should prepare, plan and meditate on how you aim to act that day,” writes author Ryan Holiday. “Don’t wing it. Don’t be reactionary. Have a plan. Marcus Aurelius rose in the morning and did his journaling – preparing himself for what he was likely to face in the hours ahead. He thought about the people he was likely to face, difficulties he might encounter (premeditatio malorum), and what he knew about how to respond.” Developing an early-morning journaling habit can help you build personal confidence and see connections and patterns you might otherwise miss.

Skip Email and Social Media

Most mornings, your notifications can wait. If the first thing you do every day is reach for your phone, try postponing that for an hour, or however long it takes to do something more peaceful and reclaim some of your private psychological space. “This can be hard for many of us, especially if you run an online business or keep up profiles that feel like they require your full attention at all times,” writes Spall. What you’ll quickly find, however, is that avoiding social media in the morning will allow the calm of the night to carry on a little bit longer.”

The best way to stop a bad habit is to, instead of going cold turkey, replace it with something you’d rather do instead. “If you’re going to do something like intentionally ignore your email for a few hours, you need to be just as intentional about planning how you’re going to spend that time,” writes Kelsey Manning, who struggled to implement email-free mornings and gained some insight in the process.

Change One Habit at a Time

Take inspiration from Niklas Göke, who wrote an excellent piece about how he built an enviable morning routine by optimizing one new habit at a time. “I never made a list when I began,” Göke writes. “Because it wouldn’t have lasted a day. The moment you make a list, you start trying to check off the items on it. You’ll dream up a big set of habits, try to adopt them all in a day and fail. Instead, see this idea as a process of optimization. Don’t pressure yourself to get it right the first time. Think of yourself as putting one foot in front of the other and improving along the way. This way, you’ll focus on learning and getting better, rather than comparing and getting frustrated.”

Take advantage of our decades of experience. We’ll help you build the lifestyle and career you’ve always wanted. Contact Artisan Creative today to get started.

During this Thanksgiving holiday season, we at Artisan Creative celebrate our clients and talent whom we work with all year. By working with the finest people and organizations, we always find ourselves amazed by the skills of our talent and the openness of our clients that facilitate the making of great matches. This gives us pride in the part we play in impacting careers.

This would not be possible without the courage and selflessness of those who hold up our communities from behind the scenes. We share our immense gratitude for the people who do so much to keep our society functioning at the hardest of times.

In the last few weeks, the Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire have posed unprecedented challenges for our home state of California. In response, Californians have come together to rally behind deeply affected families and businesses, and to support charities and emergency workers who are saving lives and helping communities prepare for rebuilding and recovery. We encourage joining these efforts and giving in the ways that are most effective, using wise-giving guidelines to make sure our dollars do the greatest possible good. Volunteering at your local shelter, donating clothes and essentials, supporting our firefighters are all ways we can help.

The people we work with have taught us much about strengthening our networks, bringing out the best in each other, and banding together to accomplish seemingly impossible breakthroughs. We enter this season in optimistic spirits, and we could never thank you all enough!

Our Artisan a.team is grateful for so much this year, our collective thanks are outlined below:

Whether you’re working on-site or remotely, as part of an agency or in-house team, it is increasingly important to work more respectfully and effectively with others. Good team players are in demand because they get results, are collaborative and easy to work with. Moreover, maintaining a positive attitude toward those around you especially through challenging times will ripple out into all areas of your life.

Here are four easy to be a better coworker in 2018 and beyond.

1. Communication

As interdependent creatures, our lives require a collaborative effort. In order to contribute and do work they can take pride in, your coworkers must be heard, and know that they are heard.

Practice active listening techniques and asking questions to make sure everyone on your team has ample opportunity to shine and to add their secret sauce to the recipe. This will allow you to work more efficiently, more effectively, and will give you a chance to see what the team can accomplish when everyone has a chance to offer their best.

2. Appreciation

Everyone deserves equal respect, and we all bring different skills, talents, and passions to a team. When you praise and encourage coworkers where they excel, as well as share constructive feedback where appropriate, you have the potential to help and discover the unique greatness of each individual you work with.

When you offer appreciation, be specific. It’s nice to be told, “you’re awesome.” It’s more useful and meaningful to know what particular things that have done well. For example, you could say, ” I really appreciate the way you communicate your ideas, as it opens a new perspective on how to approach this particular challenge. What other thoughts do you have on this?”

3. Credit

None of us live in a vacuum. We are each the products of our environments and of the relationships we foster with those around us. Everything we create in life is the result of an endless series of interactions and collaborations.

Therefore, when you achieve a goal or accomplish something remarkable, always share the credit with those who helped you along the way. This will show others that you think in terms of the group, which will inspire them to contribute to more success in the future.

Share your credit, and others will share your responsibility.

4. Support

Many of us spend as much time with our coworkers as we do with our friends and families. Therefore, even if you’re not at the center of a colleague’s life, it is important to pay attention to what’s going on with them and to offer emotional support as much as you can.

If a coworker needs to step back or take time off for their physical and emotional health, let them know you respect their decision to care for themselves, and offer to pick up the slack in whatever ways are needed.

Be mindful of the humanity of everyone you work with, whether colleagues, clients, customers, or the people who serve you in any capacity – especially when it’s difficult! By sowing goodwill, and having empathy you’ll accomplish more, get more of what you really want, and experience greater peace of mind.

At Artisan Creative, we strive to help professionals make the most of their careers and lives and help teams thrive. Contact us today to find your dream team.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. -William Arthur Ward

At Artisan Creative, we’d like to take a moment and say thank you to all who have touched our lives this past year.

We are grateful for so many things and wanted to share a few with you.

We are:

Grateful to celebrate 21 years of Artisan Creative!

Grateful for our incredible, hard-working, and dedicated a.team, always bringing their a.game when working with our talent and clients.

Grateful for our amazing talent who create, write and bring to market compelling work

Grateful for our clients and the opportunity to build relationships, grow their teams and share in their success.

Grateful for technology to allow us to be virtual, yet always connected with each other.

Grateful for the 7 dogs and 3 cats who add to our work life.

Grateful for the two babies who joined the Artisan family this year.

Grateful for our friends & families

Grateful for the opportunity to write and share insights in 450 issues of our weekly a.blog.

Below are additional gratitudes from our a. team:

Margaret

Grateful that our son is living with us now and our family is complete.

Grateful for a job that is flexible and still challenging (in a good way) after 23 years.

Grateful for a family that is supportive and loving.

Laura

Grateful for family, good health, dogs, and friendship.

Grateful to have the chance to learn, progress and work in a job I love.

Grateful for the opportunities I’ve had and the chance to see the world.

Jen

I’m thankful to be able to celebrate another Thanksgiving with my family.

Grateful to have a healthy and happy baby girl join us this year and experience the holidays through her eyes.

Thankful for a wonderful support system both at home and at work that made the transition to being a new mom so pleasant.

Cammy

Grateful for our first home and the ability to work from the comforts of it everyday.

Grateful for my hard-working, supportive, and loving husband, who is adventurous and loves to get his hands dirty

Ana

I am grateful for the privilege of spending the last months of my mother’s life at her side.

I am grateful for the love and support of my family and friends

I am grateful for Artisan for the privilege of working from home, where my job is more fun than work, and be part of a supportive, motivated and hardworking team.

I am grateful to live where food, shelter, and services are available and plentiful.

Stephanie

Grateful to work for a creative company and to work with team members that love people.

Regina

I’m grateful for such an incredible and supportive team to work for. I wake up knowing I GET to work with them and never feel like I HAVE to. It’s rare to find such integrity and motivation in one’s work life.

I’m grateful that I get to spend all my time with my dog Chewie. I never truly knew what a “man’s best friend” actually felt like until I got to spend every waking moment with him.

I’m grateful that I found a balance in my life to take care of the sick ones in my family. So, so grateful for that.

Kimberley

I’m grateful for my wonderful spouse/teacher, family, and friends who are like family.

I’m grateful for the first responders and the outpouring of help to those who lost everything in the California North Bay fires.

I’m grateful to be back at Artisan working with such a dynamic team of creative, kind and devoted professionals!

I’m grateful to be able to make a difference in candidates’ and clients’ lives by bringing the right people together at the right time.

Jamie

To have facilitated Why Stack workshops with dynamic learners from around the world.

To have celebrated our parent’s 83rd and 85th birthdays together as a family.

To always be working with people who share similar values founded on trust and respect.

Katty

Grateful to celebrate 23 years of marriage.

Grateful for my amazing a.team. The most dedicated, intelligent and fun group I have had the pleasure to work with.